The Internet Will End in 30 Years!

From another 30 years, the internet will stop working. Apparently, a bug similar to the millennium bug will affect Unix-based systems, like those that run the tubes, in the year 2038. This bug has being dubbed as "Unix Millennium bug", "Y2K38," "Y2K+38," or "Y2.038K" by analogy to the Y2K problem. It arises because Unix-based systems store the time as a signed 32-bit integer, in seconds, from midnight on January 1 1970. And the latest time that can be represented in that format, by the Posix standard, is 3:14 AM on January 19, 2038. After that, times will wrap around and be represented as a negative number. Programs will fail, of course. Since they will see times not as being in 2038 but rather in 1901, erroneous calculations and decisions will occur.

Want More Proof?

• http://www.lugmen.org.ar/pipermail/lug-list/2005-May/035318.html
• http://www.sec.org.il/coverages.php?c=53
• http://unix.derkeiler.com/Mailing-Lists/AIX-L/2004-01/0011.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2038_problem
  

By 2038, it's likely that many of the susceptible machines will have been decommissioned before the critical date occurs. However, legacy systems and embedded systems could still be affected. These may include process control computers, space probe computers, embedded systems in traffic light controllers, navigation systems, routers, gas pumps, etc. It may not be possible to upgrade many of these systems, so they will need to be replaced.

But we have years, decades even, to deal with this mass panic. That’s the good point.